


I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

by shealynn88



Series: At the Root of Evil, Good; At the Heart of Light, Darkess [2]
Category: Grimm (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-06
Updated: 2012-10-06
Packaged: 2017-11-15 18:54:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/530554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shealynn88/pseuds/shealynn88
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nick feels sorry for himself.  Monroe offers up some tough love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

**Author's Note:**

> AU after Bad Moon Rising. I will try to incorporate some of the happenings in newer episodes, but the storyline in general was developed after that episode.
> 
> * * *
> 
> Apologies for deleting/reposting. I decided I prefer it as a series instead of a chaptered story. I'm still getting used to A03, and I hadn't realized what the chaptered stories look like when posted. There should be significantly less reposting from here.
> 
> Thanks for all the support for the first part, we'll be back to Renard and Juliette shortly!

* * *

_"All I'd like is a rose you've picked specially for me!"_

_\- Beauty and the Beast_

* * *

Nick stood at the door a few minutes before knocking. He'd considered going to Hank, but he'd spent all day carefully dancing around the truth. It was exhausting to even _think_ about the careful editing he'd need to do, just to have a beer with his partner. 

And so, here he was.

“Nick. What a surprise,” Monroe said, sounding utterly unsurprised. 

Nick forced himself to grin, and clapped Monroe on the shoulder as he walked into the living room. “I hope you don't mind,” he said, knowing that Monroe wouldn't ask him to leave if he was already inside. He didn't want to stay in the trailer again, and the idea of going back to the house made him physically sick.

“Well, come on in.” Monroe muttered behind him. 

“Thanks,” he said, taking a detour fridge. “Do you mind?”

“Oh, not at all,” Monroe said dryly as Nick grabbed a beer. “Please, make yourself at home.”

Nick twisted off the cap, taking a deep breath and a very long pull at the bottle. “Sorry, Monroe.”

“Come on Nick, you can't keep doing this at all hours. What if I had somebody over?”

Nick raised an eyebrow at him. “Like...?”

“I don't know. A girl.” Monroe grabbed another beer from the fridge as Nick snickered. “It could happen,” Monroe said, taking a sip of the beer and sprawling in the armchair.

Nick rolled his eyes and then lifted his hands in a small gesture of apology. He was off today. Mean. Everything was too heavy, too harsh and too close for him to pretend. “Of course. I know, I'm sorry.” He sat heavily on the couch, drained. “I just...I can't go back there.”

He thought about how Juliette looked at him, now, like a stranger. How she skirted around him in the hallway. 

He'd been sleeping in the guest room. If you could call his restless pacing and thrashing 'sleep'.

Monroe's voice was gentler. “She still doesn't remember?”

Nick shook his head, swallowing hard. “No. Everything else is perfectly clear – she's back at work, she knows you and Hank...but it's like I've been erased. Just me. Like those four years...never existed. And it doesn't even seem to bother her. I mean, she's avoiding me and the house is just, it's so _cold_ , you know, and full of memories...” He swallowed around the perpetual lump in his throat.

Monroe grimaced. “Hey. I'm not saying it's easy, man. I mean, obviously it's hard to, you know...lose the love of your life to a memory spell cast by an evil _hexenbiest_ who hates you and who you now can't find to reverse said spell...” He trailed off to an awkward pause. “But, hey, it could totally be worse.”

Nick glanced up. “Really? Worse? How, exactly?”

Monroe shrugged uncomfortably. “Well, I mean...she's not _dead_. She's not _evil_.” He looked at Nick expectantly, like there was some easy conclusion to draw. “She's still her...you're still you?” 

Nick lifted an eyebrow impatiently. “Yeah? Your point?”

“Nick, come on. Worst case, she never gets her memory of your history back -”

“Yeah, that seems pretty much like the worst case. Thanks Monroe. And here I was feeling sorry for myself...” He didn't bother to hide the sarcasm.

Monroe dismissed it with a wave.

“But you're still you, all...y'know, 'protector of the innocent' and 'hopeless romantic.'” His punctuation was less air quote and more full arm quote, bordering on jazz hands. “You know - all those things girls love. And, of course, she's still her. So you just...do whatever it was you did before. Wine and romantic dinners. Be thoughtful. You know? I mean, the way you guys were all hot and heavy before, it shouldn't be that hard. You just...make her fall in love with you again. Start at the beginning.”

Nick groaned, rubbing his forehead. “That was a long ago, Monroe. We're not the same people anymore.”

Monroe rolled his eyes. “C'mon man, you were in love two _weeks_ ago. So, yeah, I'm sorry, what was I thinking?” He put his hands up. “Pity party for you. You had the love of an amazing woman, and now you need to do a little bit of heavy lifting to get her back. Believe me, man, I feel _terrible._ ”

Nick threw a pillow at him out of necessity, but Monroe was right. He and Juliette had been great together. He just had to remind her what she'd loved about him. 

If he even knew what that was.

Or had any of it left...


End file.
